Forced Air Exhaust Cooling System

ABSTRACT

An exhaust system to remove exhaust from an engine of a vehicle may include a first exhaust member to conduct the exhaust from the engine of the vehicle to the atmosphere and a source of pressurized fluid which may be air or gas to conduct the pressurized fluid to the first exhaust member to cool the exhaust from the engine of the vehicle. The source of pressurized fluid may be a blower, and the source of pressurized fluids may be a air dam. The blower may be connected to a battery of the vehicle, and the blower may include a sensor to determine if a predetermined speed has been reached to allow ram air input or to warn of back pressure, high temperature or current flow. The sensor may inactivate the blower when the predetermined speed has been reached. The source of pressurized fluid may be compressed air, and the source of the pressurized fluid may be refrigerated air.

PRIORITY

The present invention claims priority under 35 USC section 119 and basedupon a provisional application 60/982,037 filed on Oct. 23, 2007.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to improvements in hot exhaustgas pipes and mufflers and more particularly relates to decorativeexhaust gas pipes and mufflers including decorative chrome used ontrucks, motorcycles and automobiles and heavy duty constructionequipment such as mining and agriculture equipment. Furthermore, thepresent invention relates to cooling the exhaust gas to eliminate damagedue to condensation near the exhaust and to eliminate damage to theundercarriage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

One of the most critical problems confronting the developers of vehicleexhaust pipes and mufflers or exhaust pipes and mufflers which areexposed for appearance purposes has been the prevention of heatdiscolorization of the chromed exhaust pipes and muffler casings fromthe extreme heat generated by high engine performance. Another problemis the damage to the undercarriage, components and anything near theexhaust output due to the extreme heat.

Although the prior art has been concerned with preventing heat transferto the outer housing of a vehicle exhaust system, none have reallyaccomplished that goal, none have prevented heat discoloration as thepresent invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,356,885 for a Chambered-CoreMotorcycle-Exhaust Apparatus was granted on Nov. 2, 1982 to Christy J.Dello. The exhaust system described in the Dello patent is concernedwith a double wall exhaust system wherein the inner core is mountedwithin a tubular housing having a larger diameter than the inner core soas to establish an annular chamber between the outer housing and theinner exhaust core. Dello specifically requires the use of an innerexhaust core system that has a plurality of interconnected pipesegments.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,858,678 was granted Jan. 7, 1975 for a Muffler withRotary Gas Flow to Ralph Haren. It is directed to a muffler constructionthat has an outer shell which is clamped to the ends of a flow tubewhich contains flow obstruction devices to prevent or restrict straightthrough gas flow.

U.S. Pat. No. 3,104,733 was granted Sep. 24, 1963 for a SoundAttenuating Gas Pipe to Edmund Ludlow. It is directed to an exhaustsystem which has an outer pipe with a plurality of sections or insertsmounted within the outer pipe that are coaxially aligned within theouter pipe to define a main gas flow passage therethrough. Thecombination is designed so that each adjacent pair of inserts act incombination with the adjacent wall of the outer pipe to define a“resonating chamber of volume”.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,395 was granted Sep. 1, 1998 and U.S. Pat. No.5,907,134 was granted May 25, 1999 for Air Gap-Insulated Exhaust PipeAnd Process For Manufacturing An Air Gap-Insulated Exhaust Pipe toThomas Nording, et al. Both patents are directed to a double wallexhaust pipe wherein the inner pipe which is comprised of sectionsconnected by a sliding fit which are prevented from contacting the wallsof the outer pipe as the result of the thermal expansion of both pipesduring operation.

SUMMARY

An exhaust system to remove exhaust from an engine of a vehicle mayinclude a first exhaust member to conduct the exhaust from the engine ofthe vehicle to the atmosphere and a source of pressurized fluid toconduct the pressurized fluid to the first exhaust member to cool theexhaust from the engine of the vehicle.

The source of pressurized fluid may be a blower, and the source ofpressurized fluids may be a air dam.

The blower may be connected to a battery of the vehicle, and the blowermay include a sensor to determine if a predetermined speed has beenreached.

The sensor may inactivate the blower when the predetermined speed hasbeen reached.

The source of pressurized fluid may be compressed air, and the source ofthe pressurized fluid may be refrigerated air.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention may be understood by reference to the followingdescription taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, inwhich, like reference numerals identify like elements, and in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the exhaust system of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates a portion of the exhaust system of the presentinvention;

FIG. 3 illustrates a alternative of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention achieves lower exhaust temperatures by mixing thehot engine gases with cooler fluids which may be ambient air. When thepresent invention refers to fluid, the fluid may be air, gas or othertypes of fluids. A blower which may be an electric blower mixes thepressurize air with the hot exhaust gases at the base of the exhauststack or downstream of the catalytic converter of the vehicle.Alternatively, the present invention may employ multiple blowers. Theelectric blower may operate from the battery or from the electricalsystem of the vehicle in order to power the motor. The blower may bepowered by gas, solar or other forms of energy. The blower may include asensor to detect back pressure or a high temperature condition in orderto provide safe operation of electric blower. The sensor may determinethe presence or absence of back pressure and the quantity of backpressure. The sensor may determine the temperature of the exhaust or theflow rate of the exhaust. The sensor may provide an indication of thestatus of the blower for example whether or not the blower is operatingor not working. The blower may be positioned at an angled relationshipto prevent the air from being forced into the exhaust such that the airwould blow against the exhaust. The tube with the blower can be insertedinto the stream of fluid flow to create a Venturi effect. Additional airmay be directed from the front of the vehicle and may be receivedthrough an input port such as an air dam. Furthermore, the exhaustsystem may include a dedicated blower for each exhaust stack oralternatively, a single blower may provide the fluid for all of exhauststacks. As a consequence of the additional air, the temperature of theexhaust stacks, referred below as the first and second exhaust members,may be reduced sufficiently so that the first and second exhaust membersmay be a single exhaust tube/stack and that the exhaust stack may bechrome plated for example with the nickel plating without the fear ofdiscoloration or damage to the chrome. Additionally, the teachings ofthe present invention may eliminate the damage to the surroundingcomponents including the undercarriage or anything near the output ofthe exhaust such as people or dry brush. The teachings of the presentinvention may be applied to any vehicles such as a motorcycle, truck,automobile, airplane, boat, heavy-duty construction equipment,agricultural equipment, mining equipment or other vehicle having exhaustgas which may reach elevated temperatures.

FIG. 1 illustrates a cross-sectional view of the exhaust system 100 ofthe present invention. FIG. 1 illustrates a first exhaust member 107 toconduct the exhaust and other heated fluids to the atmosphere through afirst exhaust output port 111 and a second exhaust member 109 to conductexhaust and other heated fluids to the atmosphere through a secondexhaust output port 113. Although FIG. 1 illustrates a first exhaustmember 107 and a second exhaust member 109, the teachings of the presentinvention can be extended to fewer or more exhaust members. The exhaustsystem 100 may include a blower member 101 to blow or pressurize fluidwhich may be an ambient air or other appropriate fluids and which may besupplied to a first blower output passageway which may be defined by thefirst tube 103 and may be supplied to a second blower output passagewaywhich may be defined by the second tube 105. The first tube 103 may beconnected to the first exhaust member 107 at an output port of the firsttube 103 so that the pressurized fluid may be mixed with the enginegases which are generated as result of the combustion of the engine ofthe vehicle. The second tube 105 may be connected to the second exhaustmember 109 at an output port of the second tube 105 so that thepressurized fluid may be mixed with the engine gases which are generatedas result of the combustion of the engine of the vehicle.

The blower member 101 may include an electric motor to provide thepressurized fluid which may be connected to the battery of the vehicle(or from the vehicle's electrical system) or the blower member 101 maybe mechanically driven from any location of the vehicle by the engine ofthe vehicle. The first exhaust member 107 and the second exhaust member109 may be a single cylindrical tube having the outer surface coatedwith chrome for decoration. The first exhaust member 107 and the secondexhaust member 109 may have a cross-section such as a round, oval,square or other appropriate shape.

In addition to the pressurized fluid, and the air fluid may be connectedto the first exhaust member 107 and the second exhaust member 109 byforced airflow which may result from the operation and speed of thevehicle from an air dam of the vehicle. This air fluid is conducted tothe first exhaust member 107 in a first air dam passageway 119, and theair fluid may be conducted to the second exhaust member 109 through thefirst air dam output port of the third tube 115. The air fluid may beconducted to the first exhaust member 107 by the fourth tube 117 in thesecond air dam passageway 131 of the fourth tube 117 and the air fluidmay be conducted to the first exhaust member 107 through the first airdam output port of the fourth tube 117.

The engine gases may be exhausted from the engine of the vehicle andenters the first exhaust passageway of the first exhaust member 107 andenters the second exhaust passageway of the second exhaust member 109and may be cooled as a result of mixing with the pressurized fluid fromthe first blower output passageway and the second lower outputpassageway. Furthermore, the engine gases may be further cooled as aresult of mixing with the air fluid from the first air dam passagewayand the second air dam passageway. The cooled engine gases may beconducted along the first exhaust member 107 and the second exhaustmember 109 and may be output to the atmosphere at the first exhaustoutput port 111 and the second exhaust output port 113. The blowermember 101 may include a sensor device to sense if the pressured fluidis backing up and may indicate that the exhaust system 100 is notoperating properly. The sensor device may sense when the speed issufficient that the air fluid from the air dam is sufficient to cool thefirst and second exhaust members 107, 109 so that the sensor may turnoff the blower member 101 when the speed has reached a predeterminedspeed.

FIG. 1 additionally illustrates that the pressurized fluid may besupplied by compressed air from container 151 through the compressed airtube 153. Additionally the container 151 may have a refrigeration devicein order to cool the air below ambient temperature. The refrigerated airmay or may not be distributed by the blower or blowers.

FIG. 2 illustrates a first blower 241 having a first output tube 242 tooutput fluid and a second blower 243 having a second output to 244 tooutput fluid. FIG. 2 additionally illustrates that a refrigerant blower245 has a third output tube 246 to output refrigerated fluid

Turning now to FIG. 3, the blower 331 which may be a source ofcompressed air, refrigerated air or ram air includes an output tube 333which may be positioned at an angled relationship to the stream of fluidto prevent the air from being forced into the exhaust such that the airwould blow against the exhaust and may be positioned downstream of thecatalyst 335. The tube 333 with the blower 331 may be inserted into thestream of fluid flow to create a Venturi effect.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications andalternative forms, specific embodiments thereof have been shown by wayof example in the drawings and are herein described in detail. It shouldbe understood, however, that the description herein of specificembodiments is not intended to limit the invention to the particularforms disclosed.

1. An exhaust system to remove exhaust from an engine of a vehicle,comprising: a first exhaust member to conduct the exhaust from theengine of the vehicle to the atmosphere, and a source of pressurizedfluid to conduct the pressurized fluid to the first exhaust member tocool the exhaust from the engine of the vehicle.
 2. An exhaust system toremove exhaust from an engine of a vehicle as in claim 1, wherein thesource of pressurized fluid is a blower.
 3. An exhaust system to removeexhaust from an engine of a vehicle as in claim 1, wherein the source ofpressurized fluid is a air dam.
 4. An exhaust system to remove exhaustfrom an engine of a vehicle as in claim 2, wherein the blower isconnected to a battery of the vehicle.
 5. An exhaust system to removeexhaust from an engine of a vehicle as in claim 2, wherein the blowerincludes a sensor to determine if a predetermined speed has been reachedto allow the utilization of air dams.
 6. An exhaust system to removeexhaust from an engine of a vehicle as in claim 1, wherein the source ofpressurized fluid is compressed air.
 7. An exhaust system to removeexhaust from an engine of a vehicle as in claim 1, wherein the source ofpressurized fluid is refrigerated air.